Classes passed in a blur of confusion for Severus, who for once had a hard time keeping his mind anywhere useful. He stalked about the dungeons looking as forbidding as usual, but today it was an impotent intimidation, and twice he failed to notice that his students were reading notes for other classes while they stirred their potions. The class he'd picked up for Hannah had gone smoothly, despite the fact that he'd forgotten to even look over the notes for it until he was actually standing there waiting for the students to all arrive. It was easy enough, though; she'd apparently taken pity on her substitutes and given them an essay to assign the students and class time to work on it. Therefore, there had been nearly two hours between his announcing that they needed to work on an essay detailing the influences of Pluto transiting the fifth house and the bell that heralded the end of the class period, and he'd put that time to good use, thinking about Hannah, every thought morphing her into an even more beautiful and brilliant young woman.

When the day was over, Severus intended to go immediately to visit Hannah, but, upon catching sight of his reflection in a darkened window, thought better of the intention and veered towards his chambers, instead. He planned on a bath, and nothing more, but again his intentions were waylaid, and soon he found himself doing the tidying he had not done that morning, starting with making his bed and ending with straightening his shelf of books. By the time he got around to actually sinking into the bath he'd drawn, the water was already cold, and rather than reheating it, he'd bathed hurriedly, not spending as much time as he'd intended but at least lathering up and dunking his head under the water. It was dinner time when he emerged from his rooms, dressed warmly and still shivering slightly from the icy bath he'd subjected himself to.

By the time he made it to the hospital wing, it was late, and the sounds of dinner were drifting up through the castle, carrying with them the tempting scent of food. Severus' stomach growled, reminding him that he'd not eaten yet today, and he ended up veering away from the hospital wing one more time, this time to eat a quick dinner before returning to Hannah's side. As he seated himself at the teachers' table, Severus' mind churned around what he was planning to say to her. And there was a great deal he was planning to say. He'd been thinking about her most of the day, and about the things she'd said to him, the fears she'd shared. He knew, for the first time in his life, that he was capable of love, and he couldn't wait to share that revelation with the woman responsible for it.

As soon as he finished his dinner, Severus made his excuses and cut a swift path to the hospital wing, which he entered confidently. His robes billowed behind him as he headed for Hannah's bed, and his face was actually graced with a genuine smile for once. He stopped short just before reaching her, though, and felt his breath catch.

She was somehow even more beautiful than he'd ever seen her, which was seemingly absurd given the circumstances. She was propped up with several pillows at her back, her foot elevated on even more pillows, the leg of her satin pajamas revealing her ankle, which was not as swollen as it had been last night. Her foot, delicately arched, just begged to be massaged, and the barest hint of a shapely calf protruding from the amethyst satin was enough to make his blood boil. It was not the way the silky fabric clung to her that made his mouth go dry, though. It was her hair. He would have never believed that her hair could twist his entrails into such a knot, particularly not when she'd likely not spent more than five irritated seconds with it, but there was something so casually seductive about it that made his knees go weak. No longer spread about her shoulders like a fan of ebony, she'd wound it into a messy twist, securing it with a pencil, one lock of it barely looped onto the make-shift clip. On top of her head sat a pair of glasses, seeming to hold the entire sculpture in place. She was so absorbed in whatever it was that she was writing that she didn't appear to notice his arrival. He cleared his throat softly as he stepped forward.

Hannah's eyes darted up to this face, and a smile blossomed across her features. "Severus!" she called, waving for him to come over, which he did without hesitation.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, picking up her hand. She squeezed his hand lightly.

"Much better," she replied. "My ankle stopped hurting this morning, and I think the swelling has gone down some."

He cast a look at her ankle again and thought that she was almost as much of a master of understatement as McGonagall was, but he didn't tell her that. Instead, he sat, on the edge of her bed this time, and smiled what was, for him at least, a very broad and bright smile. "Good," he said, though his mind was screaming at him to say something a bit more enrapturing than merely 'good'. At least, the parts of his mind not cursing him for letting her get too close. All those facets of his brain were infuriatingly silent, though, as he tried to think of something to say.

"I br… er. No, I guess I didn't." Good start, Severus. Bravo. He'd intended to bring the papers he needed to mark, so he'd have an excuse to sit there with her for the evening without feeling guilty about neglecting his work, but he realized that his hands were empty. And with that realization came an even more disturbing one—he didn't know where he'd put those papers. Good one, you dunderhead. Losing students' essays. He had more important things to worry about just now, though. Such as what he was going to say to recover from his blunder since Hannah was looking oddly at him now.

"Pardon me?" she asked, sounding confused.

Cursing silently, Severus thought quickly. "I…" he failed to think of anything reasonable to say, and looked away from her. "Nothing," he substituted lamely. For one dreadful moment, he thought she was going to pursue the topic, but she appeared to change her mind about it.

"How was your day?" she asked, and he, so glad for a change in topic, launched into a detailed account of how Diane Drandry had used achonite instead of alchenite in a potion and created a smoke so corrosive that it had nearly melted her cauldron.

Hannah laughed at the appropriate places and tsked softly, shaking her head in agreement of his assessment of Miss Drandy's lack of sense, but as he wound his recount to a close, he had the distinct impression that she was only half-listening to him. It was rather like it had been when she was a student. That had been a frustrating ability of hers, to half-listen so that when he asked her to repeat something she almost always could, despite the fact that he knew she was letting her mind wander. Bloody difficult to prove it, though. "…I think she must sit up at nights thinking about ways to infuriate me." With that observation, he finished his tale and, to his annoyance, noted that Hannah seemed to be fighting away a smile. "Not unlike another student I had once before," he muttered, conjuring a chair and moving to it, suddenly irritated with her.

"Oh?" she asked brightly, her eyes sparkling. No headache today, it seemed. "Do tell," she said with a hint of laughter lacing her voice."

Severus narrowed his eyes a bit, suddenly undecided if he found her amusing or irritating. "She was one of my first students," he said blandly, "and she had the most unruly mop of hair I'd ever seen, and never could remember to wear a ribbon or anything in it to keep it out of her cauldron."

Hannah laughed, leaning her head back onto her pillows. "I'm sure she didn't wear her hair up for the rest of her classes and drop the ribbon into her pocket before entering the dungeons just because she knew it would irritate you."

He felt his lips tightening into a grimace. Bloody hell. "If she did, then she was most irresponsible," he commented dryly.

"Most people are at that age," she said dismissively.

"Some more than others." He was growing increasingly annoyed with her, an odd departure from only an hour earlier.

"Well, some have a more rebellious streak than others, don't they?"

"Quite." He let go of her hand and settled against the back of his chair, wondering why he didn't just stand up and leave. "This particular student was certainly unpredictable to say the least."

Hannah's smile had faded somewhat. "Is that so?" she asked innocently. "Anyone I know?"

Severus folded his arm. "Well, from what I hear, she changed her name, though your guess is as good as mine as to why." He watched her intently for a moment, hoping for a reaction of some sort, something that would indicate to him the answer to the question he didn't really want to ask outright.

"Well," she said, her eyes starting to twinkle merrily, "if you want to know, perhaps you would do well to ask her. I mean, I can't speak for everyone, but personally, I have a tendency to answer those questions directed to me."

He scowled. As if it wasn't bloody obvious who he was talking about. "Very well, Miss Ichalia, enlighten me. What under the heavens possessed you to change your name?"

She smiled an infuriating smile. "Simple, Severus. I didn't like being Hannah Carlisle. I always felt as though I were trapped in that name, and I found that Aislinn suited my personality much better than Hannah ever did, so I decided to make that change. After all, why should I spend the rest of my life trapped in a name that didn't suit me? It's such a pity that names are given to infants before the baby has a chance to display his or her unique personality. How often are these names not suitable to child? Hrm? It was the most liberating experience I have ever had, making that change, and one I would recommend to everyone."

Severus just stared at her. Liberating? She changed her name because it didn't suit her? She thought it a pity that names were given to infants? What would she have, a bunch of children whose names were 'hey you'? Where did she pick up these ridiculous ideas? And more to the point, where did you come up with the ridiculous idea that this nutter was attractive? It wasn't one of his normal voices that sounded so disbelieving this time; the ones that normally had so much to say were apparently stunned into silence. Changing her name was liberating? He opened his mouth with the intention of telling her precisely how ridiculous he thought her logic was, but all that came out was a weak "I see."

Three hours later, Severus was headed back to his own chambers, shaking his head slightly. Who was that woman in the hospital wing? She certainly wasn't the same woman who'd held his heart and mind captive all day yesterday, was she?

October 31

Aislinn couldn't help but wonder what had suddenly come over Severus. She'd been glad for his presence the first night she was in the hospital wing, and she'd enjoyed their conversation, but she hadn't noticed when he'd left, and she hadn't particularly missed him. She'd kept herself busy all day Friday while she was alone, marking those papers that she'd asked him to bring her, and ignoring the tray of food that sat on the table at her side. She'd had visits from just about everyone on the staff, and two visits from Jordan Mickery which had both left her almost glad she was bed-ridden, as otherwise she would have been hard-pressed to keep her knees from giving out. Severus had visited her that evening, and had started their visit by taking her hand, which had surprised her beyond measure. She'd accepted it, though, and given his hand a gentle squeeze, hoping she was encouraging him; it broke her heart to think that was likely the most contact he'd had with another human in… years.

And is that true, Aislinn? She asked herself, Or do you just enjoy pitying him? And he was a pitiable figure, that much was entirely certain. There was something about him that just screamed that he needed a hug, but even had she been in a more conducive position to give it to him, she wasn't sure she would have attempted it. She had a feeling he was frightened of her, though there was nothing she could specifically point to as proof of that assessment; it was just an impression she had, and she'd learned long ago to trust her first impressions about these things.

Whatever odd things Severus was doing, though, she had something far more pressing (and admittedly more enjoyable) to occupy her mind. This afternoon, she was supposed to leave the hospital wing and be free to attend the Halloween Feast this evening. Of course, Madame Pomfrey had all but forbidden her to dance or to wear those shoes again, but Aislinn was almost as good at developing temporary deafness as Dumbledore was and had gleefully not heard a word of that. She was as giddy as a school-girl; and as she waited for Poppy to come and give her foot a final look, she thought she might very well just die of ill-concealed anticipation.

"Miss Ichalia?"

Aislinn's head swerved, and a bright smile covered her face. "Amity, Elizabeth, come in! Come in!" She waved a pair of students over, a pair of Hufflepuffs who both smiled broadly at being invited in and came forward as one.

"Is you foot better?" Amity asked, and Aislinn grinned.

"Much, thank you!" she replied. "How are the two of you faring?" She patted the edge of her bed, and both of them sat, looking far too forlorn for fifth-year students on the afternoon of the first school dance of the year.

"Dreadful!" Elizabeth responded, and Aislinn put a sympathetic look on her face.

"What happened?" she asked, though she had her suspicions that she knew what was wrong, and they were proven correct as the two girls started talking at the same time. Disjointed as the explanation might have been, and difficult as it was to keep up with who was saying what, it didn't take much for Aislinn to pick out the gist of what they were saying. Both had been waiting for particular boys to invite them to the dance and so far those invites had not materialized, and the two girls were now, four hours from the start of the dance, dateless.

And they'd certainly chosen the most sympathetic of their teachers to come to, of that there could be no doubt. Aislinn gave both an encouraging smile. "There, now," she said soothingly, "do you know what probably happened?"

Both girls shook their heads, Amity's blond curls bouncing and Elizabeth's silky brown curtain swaying.

"They were probably afraid. Boys can be horribly afraid sometimes."

Amity giggled, but Elizabeth looked as serious as ever. "Oh, but Miss Ichalia, not Bradley and Richard," she protested. "They're both very brave. They're Gryffindors."

Aislinn wasn't quite sure what to do with that sudden heart-felt pronouncement, and was glad to be saved from facing it alone as the door to the hospital wing suddenly opened and the bat-like figure of Severus Snape entered the wing. He stopped short when he saw that she had company already, but Aislinn, glad for any diversion, waved him over. He edged towards her, looking slightly askance at the two students sitting beside her. "That hardly matters, Elizabeth," Aislinn was saying, patting the girl's hand. "The man who would face demons and dragons often quakes at the idea of asking a girl to dance," she said, hoping her tone made it sound like she knew what she was talking about. "If he hasn't asked you to the dance, perhaps you should ask him? After all, I daresay most young men would appreciate the pressure being taken off them. Am I right, Professor Snape?"

The two girls gasped and scrambled to their feet, spinning fearfully to look at the dreaded potions master. Aislinn turned a beseeching look to him too, Just agree with me, she pleaded silently. His eyes met hers, and then he looked at the two students, then back at her again, as though trying to decide what to say. He really does have all the social grace of a slug, Aislinn thought as he spent precious seconds considering. Every delay would make his answer that much less believable if he did have the presence of mind to agree with her, and she raised her eyebrows, shooting him a look that plainly prompted him to speak.

He did, finally, and to Aislinn's great relief, he agreed with her, though with no more enthusiasm than he said anything else. "Quite," he replied, and for a moment she thought that was all he was going to say on the matter. He ended up adding a few more words to the assessment, though. "Sometimes," he said, glancing at the two girls, "a man needs a bit of a shove in the right direction." The last of that, Aislinn was sure, had been directed at her, but for the life of her she couldn't imagine what he was on about.

Elizabeth and Amity, however, were so dumbstruck that Professor Snape had spoken to them without giving them detentions that they were just staring, much to Aislinn's amusement. Severus also seemed a little stunned, and quite a lot like he wished he hadn't opened his mouth.

"You really don't think they'll mind if we ask them to dance?" It was Amity who spoke, her voice barely a squeak under the assault of Severus' gaze, and Aislinn had to fight hard not to laugh at the expression that flickered across his face as he suddenly seemed to realize what they were talking about. The look he gave her would have frozen lava, but Aislinn had only the urge to bury her face in her pillow and laugh until she couldn't breathe anymore. Who would have ever pinned Severus Snape to be giving his students advice about the opposite sex?

"What's the worst that could happen?" he asked finally, seeming to resign himself to his fate. It had something of the sound of a rhetorical question, but the weighty silence made it obvious that expected an answer. Even when offering advice, (and Aislinn was quite interested in hearing the eventual outcome of this) Severus sounded like a teacher.

"He could say no," Elizabeth offered, sounding as though that possibility held just slightly less appeal than death. Aislinn smiled sympathetically, and thought idly, I wouldn't be a teenager again for all the gold in Gringotts.

"Indeed." Severus had folded his arms and was walking a slow circle around the pair of them, looking very much like a vulture, even to Aislinn who was not the target for once. "And what will happen if you do not?" he asked, turning his gaze to Amity, who looked like she wanted to melt into oblivion. Can't you be a little less daunting for once, Aislinn thought desperately, but to no effect.

"He, erm, they," she shot a hopeful smile at Elizabeth, "might ask us?" The two friends had managed to maneuver themselves to the opposite side of the bed from Severus, and both looked grateful for the barrier.

Severus unfolded his arms suddenly and leaned forward suddenly, bracing his hands on the mattress. Oh, please don't put me in the middle of this, Aislinn thought desperately, trying to wriggle herself away but finding herself unable to do so without kicking the potions master away from her bed. "Don't be foolish," he whispered, in a characteristically Snape-ish hiss. "If they were going to ask you, do you not think they would have by now? Let's try again."

Amity looked like she was going to cry, and Aislinn sighed inwardly. You and I need to have a little talk, Severus, she thought firmly. "I-I guess that… nothing… will happen," Amity was saying miserably.

"Precisely," Severus said, straightening. "Therefore, what conclusion can you gather?" Elizabeth was looking at the floor, as was Amity, and Aislinn thought both now looked like they were trying not to cry. "Well?" Neither said anything, and Aislinn's heart ached for the two girls. "What will happen if they say no?"

Amity swallowed. "We won't have dates," she said quietly.

"And what happens if you don't ask?"

"We don't have dates," she repeated mournfully. Elizabeth, however, was looking up at Severus now, as though considering, her face a mirror of the sudden understanding Aislinn felt.

"So, what is the conclusion?"

"We have nothing to lose," Elizabeth replied, her voice sounding more firm than Amity's had. "But everything to gain."

Amity suddenly looked up at Severus, her eyes now wide as well, as though catching on.

Severus' lips tightened into that expression that passed for a smile on his face. "Quite," he whispered. "Now, I believe you two have a task in front of you?"

"Yes Professor Snape!" Their voices were in such perfect synchronization that Aislinn couldn't tell one from the other, and the two ran out of the hospital wing, leaving Aislinn staring after them for a moment, and then suddenly bursting into laughter.

"Who would have ever thought that the stern and pitiless Professor Snape would have such sound advice for his students?" she asked through her guffaws, leaning back against the pillows.

"Wha-" he began, but was interrupted by another voice.

"Out." Aislinn opened her eyes, still watering from laughter, and smiled broadly at Poppy. "Go on, Severus. I'm a busy woman and I haven't all day while you amuse my patients. You can talk with Miss Ichalia later. Out." Severus scowled at Poppy, then shrugged at Aislinn, and did as he was told.